Mascara applicators are already known that are in the form of brushes. Conventionally, such brushes comprise a handle member that can also act as a stopper for a receptacle containing the mascara for application, together with a stem extending from the handle member between a proximal and a distal end.
A multitude of bristles project radially from the stem, at the distal end thereof, thus forming an applicator head.
Such prior art brushes are designed to be used as follows.
The user dips said brush in the receptacle containing mascara, thereby partially coating the bristles and the stem in mascara. The user then performs a brushing action on the eyelashes using the brush, thereby transferring mascara from the brush towards and onto the eyelashes.
Such known mascara brushes nevertheless present a certain number of drawbacks.
Firstly, prior art brushes generally do not make it possible to control the quantity of mascara they collect from inside the receptacle.
In some cases, the brush thus does not enable a sufficient quantity of mascara to be collected, such that the user must keep on dipping the brush into the receptacle, which can be inconvenient and can lead to risks of the stock of mascara contained in the receptacle becoming polluted or even contaminated. In addition, brushing the eyelashes with a brush that carries insufficient mascara can be particularly disagreeable or even painful because of the friction caused thereby.
In other cases, in particular when the mascara is very viscous or thick, after the brush has been dipped in the supply it can become overfilled with mascara. This means that the brush takes too great a quantity of mascara to the eyelashes in comparison with the eyelash area for covering.
This can lead to poor-quality makeup, when a large fraction of this excess mascara is transferred onto the eyelashes, forming unattractive clumping between and on the eyelashes. Furthermore, given that all of the excess mascara is not transferred in full onto the eyelashes, the unused mascara that has remained on the brush is reinserted into the supply of mascara within the receptacle, thereby increasing the risk of the supply becoming dirtied and contaminated. In addition, this leftover mascara that has remained on the brush tends to dry out on the brush, which in the long run reduces the applicator qualities of the brush and degrades the supply of mascara contained in the receptacle by mixing dry mascara particles in with that supply.
Finally, prior art brushes do indeed enable the eyelashes to be combed while mascara is being applied, but as a general rule the combing function is not sufficient for obtaining continuous, uniform, and smooth coating of the eyelashes.